Leadership

Priscilla Collins-Parhms

Current Position: Managing Director, Summit Prep and Peak Prep

Previous Position: Senior Director, Summit International Preparatory

Education: Master's: Educational Administration (California State University, San Bernadino)

Bachelor's: Radio and Television Management (Northeast Louisiana University)

Favorite Quote: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Contact: pparhms@uplifteducation.org

Teno Sigmon

Current Position: Upper School Director, Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Dean of Instruction, Peak Preparatory

Education: Master's: Educational Administration (Grand Canyon University)

Bachelor's: Spanish – Interdivisional (Texas Southern University)

Favorite Quote: "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37:4

Contact: tsigmon@uplifteducation.org

Emily Verret Nolen

Current Position: Middle School Director, Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Administrator at GPISD

Education: Master of Education, Southern Methodist University

Bachelor of Arts, Crime & Justice Studies, University of Texas @ Dallas

Favorite Quote: "Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it." - Wilferd Peterson

Contact: enolen@uplifteducation.org

Chris Garcia

Current Position: Lead and Primary School Director, Uplift Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Advanced Programs Coordinator, Uplift Peak Preparatory

Education: Bachelor's: Psychology and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin

Master's: Urban School Leadership (in progress), Southern Methodist University

Favorite Quote: Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.

Contact: cgarcia@uplifteducation.org

Ryan Faller

Current Position: Dean of Students, Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Drug and Alcohol Counselor

Education: Bachelors of Science / Managerial Economics / University of California, Davis; Bachelors of Arts / English / University of California, Davis; Masters in Counseling / Franciscan University of Steubenville

Favorite Quote: "You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people." - Fulton J. Sheen

Contact: rfaller@uplifteducation.org

Misti Whitley

Current Position: AP Dean, Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Exemplar Teacher – Algebra I

Education: UTA Bachelor of Arts - Psychology, post graduate – 2 years coursework UT Southwestern Medical Center

Favorite Quote: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Contact: mwhitley@uplifteducation.org

Kari Mills

Current Position: MYP Dean – Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: Secondary Math Teacher

Education: Bachelors in Business Administration – Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Contact: kmills@uplifteducation.org

Whitney Hurwitz

Current Position: Primary Dean, Peak Preparatory

Previous Position: 5th Grade Reading Teacher and Reading Content Coordinator, Peak Preparatory

Education: Masters in Teaching and Learning: Master Reading Teacher Specialization- Southern Methodist University, BS in Finance- University of Florida

Favorite Quote: "A child miseducated is a child lost."

Contact: wwheeler@uplifteducation.org

Christine Denison

Current Position: School Director, Uplift Triumph

Previous Position: PYP Dean, Peak Preparatory

Education: B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Austin College; currently attending graduate school at SMU in the Master’s of Urban Educational Leadership Program

Favorite Quote: "You must be the change you want to see in the world." – Gandhi

Contact: cdenison@uplifteducation.org

Last Modified on August 8, 2012